On May 9, President Putin gave a broadcast to Moscow’s Red Square ahead of the military parade, only a few hours after Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted Russia’s missiles heading directly toward Kyiv.

A video journalist working for the Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, was killed due to a fired rocket near the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse said on May 9. 

Arman Soldin, a journalist, at the age of 32, and four of his colleagues were with Ukrainian soldiers when they happened to go under a Grad rocket attack, the agency said. Soldin was killed, but no one on the rest of the team, which also included a security adviser, was injured. 

Niles North Social Studies teacher Pankaj Sharma shared his thoughts on the horrific effect of the missile interception. 

“I think it shows how much Ukraine relies on its Western allies and technology and equipment to protect itself from the constant bombardment they get from Russia,” Social Studies teacher Pankaj Sharma said. “I know that Ukraine has requested F-16 fighter jets too but there’s a danger because the Russian military has a superior air force. So if the Ukrainians don’t have the defensive capabilities to stop these air attacks, it’s going to really weaken them and make it easier for Russia to advance into Ukrainian territory.”

The United States will be supplying Ukraine with $1.2 billion to make additional purchases towards air defense missiles, artillery ammunition and satellite imagery from commercial companies, the Pentagon announced. The financial aid is part of a program called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which primarily allows Kyiv to purchase goods for defense industries.

Patrick S. Ryder, a spokesperson of the Pentagon, confirmed that Ukraine claims that an American made an air defense missile that successfully intercepted a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile, which is one of the most complex conventional weapons from Russia’s arsenal from last week. 

If it wasn’t for Ukraine’s air defense, there could have been possibly hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the Russian Missile. We should continue to remember that while we peacefully live our lives, there is still a war involving a missile crisis between Russia and Ukraine.